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Tuesday, December 16, 2014

National Demonstrations Against the Racist Hegemony Of Police Brutality and Murder of African American Citizens in the United States Today

The
crowd began to wind its way through Manhattan. A large labor union
contingent was present, including members of the Communications Workers
of America wearing red shirts and AFL-CIO supporters waving blue signs.

In contrast to other marches
over the past weeks, this large, orderly demonstration took place
during the day. A number of families with children took part, and
demonstrators followed a pre-planned route. The march made its way
uptown to Herald Square, then looped back downtown, with thunderous
chants of "Hands up! Don't shoot!" and "Justice! Now!" echoing down
Broadway. The demonstration culminated at One Police Plaza, the New York
City Police Department's Lower Manhattan headquarters.

Organizers
estimated that 30,000 demonstrators participated in the march. The NYPD
told The Huffington Post that, as of the official end of the march, no
arrests had been made.

Protesters held up 8 panels depicting Eric Garner's eyes, created by an artist known as JR. "The eyes were chosen as the most important part of the face," said Tony Herbas of Bushwick, an assistant to the artist.

Ron Davis, whose son Jordan was shot dead by a man in Florida after an argument over loud music, was at the head of the march.

"We
have to make everybody accountable," Davis told HuffPost. "You can’t
continue to see videos of chokeholds, videos of kids getting shot in the
back, and say it’s all right. We have to make sure we have an
independent investigator investigate these crimes that police carry
out."

Michael Dunn, the man who killed Jordan, was convicted of first-degree murder
and sentenced to life without parole in October. Davis said Saturday
that Dunn's conviction proves it's possible that justice can be served
in racially charged cases.

"We ended up getting a historic
movement in Jacksonville," Davis said. "We had an almost all-white jury,
with seven white men, convict a white man for shooting down an unarmed
boy of color."

Also
at the front of the march were New York City Councilman Ydanis
Rodriguez and New York state Assemblyman-elect Charles Barron.

Matthew
Brown, a 19-year-old who is African-American and Hispanic, marched down
Broadway with his mother, aunt and other family members.

"I'm trying to support a movement that really needs young people like myself," said Brown. "I'm here to speak for Mike Brown."

The
teenager said part of his motivation for making the trek from West
Orange, New Jersey, with his family was his own personal experience.
He's encountered racist verbal abuse from police in Jersey City, he
said, who have called him "spic" and monkey."

Citing the cases of
Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice, Brown said part of the reason
he wanted to speak out was because of the way police represent
encounters with African-Americans. "I just see so many lies after lies."He
also attended the People's Climate March in September. But this march
felt more intense to him. "This is one that's really affecting people on
a deep, emotional level," Brown said.

Krystal Martinez, a
23-year-old schoolteacher, said she attended the march to send a simple
message: "I don't want my students' names chanted at any of these
events."

Because
she teaches at a charter school that serves students from
Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights, Martinez said, she was painfully
aware of the challenges black youth face in interactions with police.

Martinez,
a Harlem resident, pointed to a sign held by a colleague with a quote
from a 13-year-old girl who had been stopped by police: "The first time I
was stopped and frisked I was so scared I didn't leave my house for a
week.""Eighty-five percent of my students are black and this is
their lives," Martinez said, emphasizing that she spoke for herself and
not her school. "I'm out here because of my kids."

Some protesters
arrived with concrete policy proposals. Marcia Dupree, a homecare
supervisor, came bearing a sign that read, "We must change the law ...
no grand jury!!!""The root of the problem," Dupree said, was the
closeness between grand juries and police. In the wake of two grand
juries' decisions not to indict officers in the Michael Brown and Eric
Garner deaths, the idea of abolishing the institution has gotten a lot
of attention from both the media and policymakers, including the chairman of Missouri's Legislative Black Caucus.

Dupree
added that she'd never really considered herself much of an activist
before. Serving on the board of her local library in Mount Vernon, New
York, was "as political as I got." But she said she has been moved to
protest out of concern for her 13-year-old daughter -- who was marching
in crutches by her side -- and her 21-year-old son."I feel like I need to stand up," said Dupree. "It could be my son."

At
times, the march blurred surreally with Santacon -- the sloshy daytime
celebration of Christmas (and drinking) that New Yorkers hate on every
year.

A number of Santacon participants joined the march. Others
were less enthusiastic. "I love cops, seriously," one man in a Santa cap
told an impassive officer. "I hate these people." Then he walked off
with his fellow revelers.

Saturday's
day of action came in response to two separate grand jury decisions not
to indict police officers for killing unarmed black men. On Nov. 24, a
St. Louis County grand jury voted not to indict Police Officer Darren Wilson, who fatally shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Less than two weeks later, a Staten Island grand jury declined to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who killed Eric Garner by putting him in a chokehold.

Brown's death on Aug. 9 triggered months of protests in Ferguson against police killings -- protests that have since spread nationwide.

One group of marchers turned into a street protest choir, singing, "We're not gonna stop, until people are free."

Beneva
Davies, a 23-year-old Harlem resident who lent her voice to the group,
said the most singing she usually does is in the shower.

Davies's
family hails from Sierra Leone and Ghana, and she grew up in
Massachusetts. Sometimes, she says, she sees a "disconnect" between
recent African immigrants and the African-American descendants of
slaves.

But she tries to push back against that disconnect, she said, because "at end of the day it's what you're seen as."

Davies
saw the march as her chance to answer the question of what she would
have done if she had been alive during the civil rights protests led by
Martin Luther King Jr.

After hundreds of years of slavery, Jim
Crow and more, Davies said, "People continue to get killed. ... It's
frustrating. We have to be here so people can see it."Sebastian Murdock contributed reporting.

This story has been updated.

John Minchillo/AP

Demonstrators march in New York, Saturday,
Dec. 13, 2014, during the Justice for All rally and march. In the past
three weeks, grand juries have decided not to indict officers in the
chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York and the fatal shooting of
Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. The decisions have unleashed
demonstrations and questions about police conduct and whether local
prosecutors are the best choice for investigating police. (AP Photo/John
Minchillo)

Emily Kassie/Huffington Post

Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.

John Minchillo/AP

Demonstrators march in New York, Saturday,
Dec. 13, 2014, during the Justice for All rally and march. In the past
three weeks, grand juries have decided not to indict officers in the
chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York and the fatal shooting of
Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. The decisions have unleashed
demonstrations and questions about police conduct and whether local
prosecutors are the best choice for investigating police. (AP Photo/John
Minchillo)

wilfish99/Instagram

Thousands march in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.

John Minchillo/AP

Demonstrators march in New York, Saturday,
Dec. 13, 2014, during the Justice for All rally and march. In the past
three weeks, grand juries have decided not to indict officers in the
chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York and the fatal shooting of
Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. The decisions have unleashed
demonstrations and questions about police conduct and whether local
prosecutors are the best choice for investigating police. (AP Photo/John
Minchillo)

Emily Kassie/Huffington Post

Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.

raphaelangenscheidt/Instagram

Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.

msjoannaj / Instagram

Thousands march along 5th Ave. in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.

Emily Kassie/Huffington Post

Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.

Emily Kassie/Huffington Post

Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.

Emily Kassie/Huffington Post

Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.

christesc/Instagram

Thousands march in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.

John Minchillo/AP

Demonstrators march in New York, Saturday,
Dec. 13, 2014, during the Justice for All rally and march. In the past
three weeks, grand juries have decided not to indict officers in the
chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York and the fatal shooting of
Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. The decisions have unleashed
demonstrations and questions about police conduct and whether local
prosecutors are the best choice for investigating police. (AP Photo/John
Minchillo)

Carly Schwartz/Huffington Post

Thousands march on Broadway in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.

Emily Kassie/Huffington Post

Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.

brentaxthelm/Instagram

Protesters make their way up fifth avenue in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.

andysimpzon/Instagram

Thousands march along 5th Ave. in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.

Emily Kassie/Huffington Post

Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.

jesslynyovita / Instagram

Thousands march along 5th Ave. in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.

Emily Kassie/Huffington Post

Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.

Jnobianch / Twitter

Thousands march along 5th Ave. in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.

Emily Kassie/Huffington Post

Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.

"...Maddox said the vigil, called "Suits in Solidarity," grew out of a desire to show solidarity with young people who protested across the country, but in a different way. Since grand juries declined to indict white officers for incidents in which unarmed black men – Eric Garner in New York and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. – protests have broken out across the country. In some cases, protests have grown violent, and almost all have been loud, with marchers in some cases blocking streets and, in L.A., freeways. On Monday, protesters chained themselves to the Oakland Police Department headquarters."

The vigil drew men from all walks of life, including pastors, engineers, business owners and lawyers. As speakers talked about their experiences with the police, the men held signs saying, "Black lives matter."

"In our society, African American men are demonized -- we are seen as a threat," said Virgil Roberts, a lawyer. "It's time for you in America to see us as Americans and contributors to society."

The men started the 30-minute vigil with a moment of silence and ended with a moment of silence after Ridley-Thomas' speech. Then the men put their signs down, and stood silently for 30 seconds with their hands up.

About 50 African American men, all dressed in dark suits, gathered in front of the federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles on Monday for a silent vigil to show support for Eric Garner and other alleged victims of police misconduct.

The noontime demonstration, which was anchored by a speech by L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, was intended to show that police target not only youth in low-income neighborhoods, said Kerman Maddox, managing partner at Dakota Communications and the organizer of the vigil.

"The larger community doesn't know how common it is for African American men to be stopped and harassed," he said during the event.

Related:

45 people arrested in Bay Area protests against police killings

Maddox said the vigil, called "Suits in Solidarity," grew out of a desire to show solidarity with young people who protested across the country, but in a different way. Since grand juries declined to indict white officers for incidents in which unarmed black men – Eric Garner in New York and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. – protests have broken out across the country. In some cases, protests have grown violent, and almost all have been loud, with marchers in some cases blocking streets and, in L.A., freeways. On Monday, protesters chained themselves to the Oakland Police Department headquarters.

Monday’s event on Spring Street in downtown L.A. was a relatively quiet, calm affair. Many of the men greeted each other with hugs and handshakes.

The vigil drew men from all walks of life, including pastors, engineers, business owners and lawyers. As speakers talked about their experiences with the police, the men held signs saying, "Black lives matter."

"In our society, African American men are demonized -- we are seen as a threat," said Virgil Roberts, a lawyer. "It's time for you in America to see us as Americans and contributors to society."

The men started the 30-minute vigil with a moment of silence and ended with a moment of silence after Ridley-Thomas' speech. Then the men put their signs down, and stood silently for 30 seconds with their hands up.

LIKE so many African-American parents, I had rehearsed “the talk,” that nausea-inducing discussion I needed to have with my son about how to conduct himself in the presence of the police. I was prepared for his questions, except for one.

“Can I just pretend I’m white?”

Jordan was born to African-American parents, but recessive genes being what they are, he has very fair skin and pale blue eyes. I am caramel brown, and since his birth eight years ago people have mistaken me for his nanny.

When I asked why he would want to “pass” for white, I struggled with how to respond to his answer.

“Because it’s safer,” Jordan replied. “They won’t hurt me.”

That recent gray day, not long after grand juries failed to indict the police officers who killed unarmed black men in Ferguson, Mo., and Staten Island, I had steadied myself to lay out the rules: Always address police officers as “sir” or “ma’am.” Do not make any sudden moves, even to reach for identification. Do not raise your voice, resist or run.

But now I was taken aback.

Jordan’s father and I never had a chance to discuss when we would give him the talk, or what we would say. Our baby was just 6 months old when his dad, a decorated Army soldier, was killed in combat in Iraq. So the timing and the context of the talk were left to me.

I had tried hard to delay it, and make sure he wouldn’t know the names Michael Brown or Eric Garner or Tamir Rice.

In the days leading up to the conversation, I asked an African-American male colleague if he thought it was too soon. When did he tell his own boys?

“Before they were no longer seen as cute,” he said, making me wince.

I hadn’t fully processed that someday my son would be seen as suspect instead of sweet. So I told him, and then Jordan asked if it was rare for the police to hurt black people. I said that, just like his father when he wore his military uniform, most police officers are dedicated to protecting us. But, no, I added, it is unfortunately not uncommon.

“Then I don’t want to be black anymore,” Jordan declared.

He asked if I was crying. I dabbed at my eyes and searched my mind for what to say.

“Son, your father was an incredible African-American man,” I told him. “And you are an amazing boy who is going to grow into just such a man. Please be proud of that.”

“Yes,” he responded emphatically, “but can’t I just pretend to be white?”

The message that Jordan’s appearance affords him the option to check “other” on the race card comes at him constantly. After his second-grade class created self-portraits last year, I noticed that his was the only one not hanging on the classroom wall. His teacher explained that his portrait was “a work in progress.” The brown crayon he had used to color in his face was several shades too dark, she thought, and so she wanted him to “lighten it up” to more accurately reflect his complexion.

The author with her son and his father. Credit Courtesy of Dana Canedy

It is not just the overt signals that have convinced Jordan that he can choose to blend in to a white world. It is also that we live a life of relative affluence. I am a journalist and author whose inner circle includes prominent black writers, television anchors and doctors. We live in a high-rise in Manhattan with a doorman and round-the-clock security. Jordan attends an elite private school and an exclusive summer camp.

A white friend calls him “the boy who lives in the sky” because of the vast city view from the nine-foot windows in his bedroom. “He lives in a bubble and is always with responsible adults,” she said recently, trying to assure me that our status makes him safer than many black boys.

That is true, mostly. And if my parenting pays off, I will be able to minimize his contact with the police. He will be law-abiding. He will respect authority. He’ll understand the perception of black boys wearing hoodies or sagging pants. But will it be enough?

Just last month a video went viral that showed a black man in Pontiac, Mich., being questioned by a sheriff’s deputy because someone reported feeling nervous after seeing him walking in the cold with his hands in his pockets. So as much as I want to believe that our upper-middle-class status will protect my son from many of society’s social ills, it could not provide him the white privilege he seeks.

Nor would “passing” protect Jordan entirely, for the internal damage from living that lie would surely be as painful as any blow from a police baton. To deny his blackness would be to deny me. It would be to deny our enslaved ancestors who were strong enough to endure that voyage. It would mean rejecting the reflection he sees every time he looks in a mirror.

For at least a little while longer, Jordan is too young to understand any of this. He does not know the racial indignity of having jobs and promotions denied or delayed, does not know the humiliation of being stopped and frisked. He has never heard the mantra “I can’t breathe.”

I know that our talk was just the start of a conversation that will go deeper as he moves into his teen years in a post-Obama America. My fervent hope is that, by then, I will have found a way to help him embrace the privilege of being black.

Dana Canedy is a senior editor at The New York Times and the author of the memoir “A Journal for Jordan: A Story of Love and Honor.”

The mothers of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice appeared together for the first time on CNN.

In an interview with Anderson Cooper on Friday, the mothers of the four deceased, unarmed African American males explained that if their sons were white, they would still be alive.

"I think absolutely my son's race and the color of his skin had a lot to do with why he was shot and killed," said Sybrina Fulton, Martin's mother.

Eric Garner's mother, Gwen Carr said:

"If Eric Garner was a white man in Suffolk County doing the same thing that he was doing -- even if he would have been caught selling cigarettes that day -- they would have given him a summons and he wouldn't have lost his life that day... I believe that 100 percent."

The mothers also told Cooper that white people don't quite understand what communities of color are going through, partly because they don't have to.

Fulton:

"It's not happening to them, so they don't quite get it... They don't quite understand. They think that it's a small group of African-Americans that's complaining... The people say that all the time: 'What are they complaining about now? What are they protesting about now?Until it happens to them and in their family then they'll understand the walk. They don't understand what we're going through. They don't understand the life and they don't understand what we're fighting against. I don't even think the government quite gets it."

Martin died in 2012 in Florida when neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman shot him. Martin was seventeen years old. Zimmerman was acquitted of second degree murder and manslaughter.

Brown died in Ferguson, Mo. in an altercation with police officer Darren Wilson in August. A grand jury voted not to indict Wilson in November.

In July, Garner died after NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo placed him in a chokehold, a death the medical examiner concluded was a homicide. The incident was recorded on video. A grand jury decided not to indict Pantaleo, which sparked a new wave of protests inspired by Garner's last words, "I can't breathe."

12-year-old Tamir Rice was at a Cleveland park when a police car pulled up and shot him last month. His death was ruled a homicide according to a Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's autopsy report.

Author of ‘Broken Windows’ Policing Defends His Theorywww.nytimes.com"Broken Windows Policing' Denounced--Various publicationsAuthor of ‘Broken Windows’ Policing Defends His Theory--New York TimesControversy over the style of policing is reverberating again after a Staten Island man died of a chokehold while being arrested for illegally selling cigarettes.

March In Washington Draws Thousands Of Protesters Demanding Justice For All12/13/2014Huffington PostAt 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, hundreds of people began to gather at the Freedom Plaza in Washington D.C. By noon, the crowd had swelled to thousands. The protesters began marching through the nation's capital to call for justice and decry racial discrimination in light of recent deaths of black men at the hands of the police.

The crowd rallied through the city demanding "justice for all," the slogan that lent the protest its name. The Justice For All march was a response to recent decisions by two separate grand juries in Ferguson, Missouri, and Staten Island, New York, which declined to indict the white police officers responsible for the deaths of, respectively, 18-year-old Michael Brown and 43-year-old Eric Garner.

The families of police shooting victims, including relatives of Brown, Garner, Tamir Rice, Akai Gurley and John Crawford, led the march.

The demonstration was organized by the National Action Network, a civil rights organization headed by the Rev. Al Sharpton. Sharpton joined the families as they marched through Washington Saturday.

"We are not anti-police; we are anti-police-brutality," Sharpton told protesters. "And today we challenge Congress to follow in the president's footsteps and take legislative action to protect us, the citizens."

"Do not be silent. Do not be complacent. Do not continue to live with police misconduct and violence as somehow acceptable," Sharpton urged earlier this week in a piece he wrote for The Huffington Post.

Trevon Ferguson, a 14-year-old from Long Beach, New York, said he had traveled about five hours to attend the march in D.C., and planned to head back with his family this afternoon. He said he has never had a problem with police officers, but constantly fears them.

“Sometimes I feel like, you never know, I might be the next Trayvon Martin or the next Eric Garner. So who’s to say that a cop wouldn’t come and just shoot me and leave me in the street?” Ferguson told HuffPost. “So I’m here to make sure that me and my family are treated equally, just as any white boy or girl. Dr. King believed in equality, so I’m here for equality.”

The mothers of Rice, Garner, Brown and Trayvon Martin, a black teenager who was shot in 2012 by a neighborhood watch volunteer, appeared together in public for the first time Friday night. In a joint interview on CNN, the women spoke out against racial discrimination and argued that their sons might not have died if they had been white.

"If Eric Garner was a white man in Suffolk County doing the same thing that he was doing -- even if he would have been caught selling cigarettes that day -- they would have given him a summons and he wouldn't have lost his life that day ... I believe that 100 percent," Garner's mother, Gwen Carr, told CNN's Anderson Cooper.

The deaths of these black men have become part of a narrative that many believe is all too common in the United States.

"We are together. We are united. We are standing. And we are going to fight this together," Sybrina Fulton, Martin's mother, told the crowd before she began to lead the march. "You guys mean the world to us."

Garner's mother also approached the podium and praised the diversity of the crowd.

"Look at the masses," she said. "Black, white, all races, all religions ... We need to stand like this at all times."

In recent weeks, protesters around the country have participated in demonstrations to decry racial injustice and police brutality.

Dion Anderson, a 42-year-old from Washington, D.C., said he “felt obligated” to come to the event because of his own negative experiences with police officers, especially growing up.

"When I was eight years old, we were at the basketball court playing basketball and a Prince George’s County police officer -- I’m tearing up right now thinking about it -- just came on the basketball court and flattened [the ball], and just left. For no reason. So that’s why I’m obligated to come down,” Anderson said. “I even got scars on the back of my head from Prince George’s County Police Department … So police brutality has been rampant in my life.”

Many of the signs and chants from protests around the country have used the slogan that has become synonymous with the movement: "Black lives matter."

That same message was echoed by protesters who participated in the Justice For All march on Saturday. Here are some powerful images:

Malcolm X (1925-1965)

"I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it's for or against."

W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963)

"There is but one coward on earth, and that is the coward that dare not know."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)

"Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent. "

James Baldwin (1924-1987)

"Precisely at the point when you begin to develop a conscience you must find yourself at war with your society."

Aimé Césaire (1913-2008)

"A civilization that proves incapable of solving the problems it creates is a decadent civilization. A civilization that chooses to close its eyes to its most crucial problems is a stricken civilization. A civilization that uses its principles for trickery and deceit is a dying civilization."

Nina Simone (1933-2003)

"There's no other purpose, so far as I'm concerned, for us except to reflect the times, the situations around us and the things we're able to say through our art, the things that millions of people can't say. I think that's the function of an artist and, of course, those of us who are lucky leave a legacy so that when we're dead, we also live on. That's people like Billie Holiday and I hope that I will be that lucky, but meanwhile, the function, so far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times, whatever that might be."

Amilcar Cabral (1924-1973)

"Always bear in mind that the people are not fighting for ideas, for the things in anyone's head. They are fighting to live better and in peace, to see their lives go forward, to guarantee the future of their children ....Hide nothing from the masses of our people. Tell no lies. Expose lies whenever they are told. Mask no difficulties, mistakes, failures. Claim no easy victories..." .

Angela Davis (b. 1944)

"The idea of freedom is inspiring. But what does it mean? If you are free in a political sense but have no food, what's that? The freedom to starve?”

Duke Ellington (1899-1974)

“Jazz is the freest musical expression we have yet seen. To me, then, jazz means simply freedom of musical speech! And it is precisely because of this freedom that so many varied forms of jazz exist. The important thing to remember, however, is that not one of these forms represents jazz by itself. Jazz simply means the freedom to have many forms.”

Amiri Baraka (1934-2014)

"Thought is more important than art. To revere art and have no understanding of the process that forces it into existence, is finally not even to understand what art is."

Frederick Douglass (1817-1895)

"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.” --August 3, 1857

Cecil Taylor (b. 1929)

“Musical categories don’t mean anything unless we talk about the actual specific acts that people go through to make music, how one speaks, dances, dresses, moves, thinks, makes love...all these things. We begin with a sound and then say, what is the function of that sound, what is determining the procedures of that sound? Then we can talk about how it motivates or regenerates itself, and that’s where we have tradition.”

Ella Baker (1903-1986)

"Strong people don't need strong leaders"

Paul Robeson (1898-1976)

"The artist must take sides, He must elect to fight for freedom or slavery, I had no alternative"

John Coltrane (1926-1967)

"I want to be a force for real good. In other words, I know there are bad forces. I know that there are forces out here that bring suffering to others and misery to the world, but I want to be the opposite force. I want to be the force which is truly for good."

Miles Davis (1926-1991)

"Jazz is the big brother of Revolution. Revolution follows it around."

C.L.R. James (1901-1989)

"All development takes place by means of self-movement, not organization by external forces. It is within the organism itself (i.e. within the society) that there must be realized new motives, new possibilities."

Frantz Fanon (1925-1961)

"Now, political education means opening minds, awakening them, and allowing the birth of their intelligence as [Aime] Cesaire said, it is 'to invent souls.' To educate the masses politically does not mean, cannot mean, making a political speech. What it means is to try, relentlessly and passionately, to teach the masses that everything depends on them."

Edward Said (1935-2003)

“I take criticism so seriously as to believe that, even in the midst of a battle in which one is unmistakably on one side against another, there should be criticism, because there must be critical consciousness if there are to be issues, problems, values, even lives to be fought for."

Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937)

“The challenge of modernity is to live without illusions and without becoming disillusioned. There must be pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will.”

Susan Sontag (1933-2004)

"Do stuff. Be clenched, curious. Not﻿ waiting for inspiration’s shove or society’s kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It’s all about paying attention. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager."

Editor's Bio

Kofi Natambu, editor of The Panopticon Review, is a writer, poet, cultural critic, and political journalist whose poetry, essays, criticism, reviews, and journalism have appeared in many literary magazines, journals, newspapers, and anthologies. He is the author of a biography MALCOLM X: His Life & Work (Alpha Books) and two books of poetry: THE MELODY NEVER STOPS (Past Tents Press) and INTERVALS (Post Aesthetic Press). He was the founder and editor of SOLID GROUND: A NEW WORLD JOURNAL, a national quarterly magazine of the arts, culture, and politics and the editor of a literary anthology NOSTALGIA FOR THE PRESENT (Post Aesthetic Press). Natambu has read his work throughout the country and given many lectures and workshops at academic and arts institutions. He has taught American literature, literary theory and criticism, cultural history and criticism, film studies, political science, creative writing, philosophy, critical theory, and music history and criticism (Jazz, Blues, R&B, Hip Hop) at many universities and colleges. He was also a curator in the Education Department of Detroit’s Museum of African American History. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Natambu currently lives in Berkeley, California with his wife Chuleenan.